May 12, 2012

Guest Post - The Top 5 Fly Fishing Apps

After my 3 post Smokies outburst, I needed a break from posting, so today, I present a guest post.

This post was forwarded to me by Steve Jacobs and I think it's pretty topical considering the prevalence of smartphones among anglers. While I can't say I've personally used or endorse the apps mentioned, I figure if you've got fish on the brain like me, they're probably worth a download at some point. Enjoy.

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Top 5 Fly Fishing Apps

As a fly fishing enthusiast I never thought the Internet would weasel its way into my love affair with the great outdoors and the thrill of the fish hitting the fly. I must say however that after years of fighting against technology and progress, I have been seduced. I confess my fly fishing obsession has been enhanced by numerous apps.

Today I am going to highlight just five of the many apps that I have found to be very helpful and enjoyable. Some tend to be geared more for technical and instructional purposes such as how to tie certain types of knots. Others tend to be focused on facilitating the observational and contemplative aspects of enjoying the sport. This is done by creating memories within journal entries and even being able to share and compare those experiences and observations with others that share the same passion.

1. The Pocket Fisherman by Magic Mobile
This App provides information about specific species of fish, information on regulations and records within the 49 Continental states and GPS mapping for the closes tackle shops and marinas. It allows you to search according to name of fish or you can identify a fish by looking at pictures. A summary of each type of fish, providing description of appearance, average length, weight and natural habitat is provided.

2. Fishing Knots by Perished-apps
This app only demonstrates 10 knots but the nice thing about it is that it is one of the easiest tutorials to understand. The descriptions and the pictures are done so well that it is quite easy to understand and duplicate. Although it would be nice to have a larger assortment of knots, the app is FREE!

3. Orvis Fly Fishing by Green Mountain Digital
Orvis is obviously a well known name in the fishing industry. The company markets a large amount of high quality fly fishing gear. It sells exotic overseas fishing safari trips and is active in promoting numerous conservation projects. Many people have been introduced to Orvis via their fly fishing apps for the iPhone. (Also available for iOS, Android and Kindle Fire)

This app has a huge number of features. It has everything from instructional videos, to podcasts, to glossaries. It really comes in handy when you need to reference a large database of information.

4. Animated Fishing Knots By John Sherry
This app has significantly more knots than the "Fishing Knots" app I mentioned earlier. Knowing how to tie lots of specialty knots is crucial for those who are serious anglers. It covers everything from the basic Drop Shot knot to the complicated Arbor and Yucatan Knots.

Unlike "Fishing Knots" this app is not free, but it is priced right. If you are still acquiring your knowledge base of need-to-know knots, this is a great app. It is available through iTunes store.

5. Fishing Notes by Jimmy Houston
This app is being promoted by Jimmy Houston. He is a bass fishing celebrity; he had a professional fishing career and is probably known best for his television series. This particular fishing app is pretty much an all-in-one fishing log app. Users can add journal entries about their fishing trips in various locations and compare them to those had by others. It brings together a fishing community through the use of the app.

One of the nice things about it is that you don't need access to an active internet connection to make entries which is a handy feature for those deep in the wilds. It also provides real time weather forecasts for all locations.

There are so many fishing apps available today that it is difficult to evaluate all of them. Some of them become really invaluable once you begin using them. Hopefully one or two of the ones highlighted in this post will be of interest.

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Author Bio: Steve Jacobs is an avid outdoorsman and enjoys everything from hunting to fishing and beyond. Over the years Steve has come to be an expert in many of the fields he loves – hunting and fishing gear, supplies, ammo etc - and works for Sportsman’s Warehouse helping others enjoy the outdoors.

5 comments:

With the possible exception of the knots (I know three, and I use three, and the rest can suck it), the only fishing app I've ever used that was worth a damn was a web browser with a bookmark to the USGS gages.

Occassionally the map program to FIND the place I'm going.

I've downloaded a stack of these stupid things, and each one has promised much and been useless, including ones that was supposed to making using the gages easier. It didn't.

its called fishing, you want the phone to catch the fish for you. If that's the case tape it to a hook andbdrop it down. Apprrciate there people out there than willing to create the app for free and sjare the sport.

I purchased the Orvis fly fishing app. It's an pretty awesome app...when it works properly...which is a small fraction of the time that I've had it(2 years now)The problem I have, as I've discovered many other individuals have with the Orvis app also, is it consistently says I'm not connected to the internet when I clearly am, so, I don't get current updates and many of the updates are weeks or months old making them useless. I've emailed Green Mountain about this several times, but, got absolutely no response. Hey Green Mountain...fix the Orvis app!!!